Conservatives defeated as denomination elects Ed Litton Ed Litton called Critical Race Theory a hoax.

While America tosses off the shackles of the new racism of Critical Race Theory and Intersectionality, the Southern Baptist Convention elected Ed Litton who claims CRT is a hoax. Ed Litton was elected by Southern Baptists during the Annual Meeting in Nashville. It is a dark day for the SBC and America. The Woke fanatics are now in undisputed control of what was America’s conservative denomination. This is the second consecutive election of a radical.

Turnout was high with 15,678 registered messengers. This is up sharply from the 9,632 messengers who turned out in Dallas, Texas during the last SBC Presidential election. In that race, J.D. Greear defeated Ken Hemphill and inaugurated the SBC’s Leftward Drift.

That drift is now a sprint. Three years of trustee appointments were made by the Woke J.D. Greear. Now, at least one if not two more years of appointments will be made by the even more radical Ed Litton.

There can be little doubt that our point is right: Ed Litton is Woke and will destroy the Southern Baptist Convention as a home for conservatives.  

One reason is that he is in violation of the Baptist Faith and Message. He co-preachers sermons with his wife.

As Al Mohler said, one cannot separate the function from the office. According to Dr. Mohler, “I believe that consistency with the Baptist Faith & Message means that someone who is understood to be ‘preaching’ and fulfilling that preaching task on Sunday morning where … someone holding the teaching office would be fulfilling that task … I think it would violate the Baptist Faith & Message in letter and in spirit for a woman to do that.”

Well, Ed Litton and his wife were doing that together. It was not a woman speaking—she admitted on tape that it was a sermon.

But as the rise of Critical Race Theory and Intersectionality showed, the SBC cares little for what the Bible or its confession of faith state. Pragmatism and pleasing secular elites are now the order of the day. This is the legacy of lifelong Democrat Russell Moore. It will linger for many years.

On to Anaheim for Conservative Southern Baptists?

The Conservative Baptist Network appears set to push forward toward a continued resistance against the Woke Southern Baptist Convention.

Rod Martin said on Twitter, “Tough beat. But it’s the work of a single year. We fought the entire denominational machine, plus all their MSM friends. We didn’t win. But this result shows we can. @BaptistNetwork @PastorMikeStone .”

Motivating this drive among conservative Southern Baptists is an attachment to the legacy of the SBC. These men feel it would be wrong to abandon what generations of Southern Baptists built.

The ship might be taking on water, sinking and filled with rotting wood—but it was once a good ship and they believe the effort to salvage it worthwhile.

And, perhaps it is.

Though, one is forced to come to face with the reality of the modern world—denominations no longer matter. Or, at least, no longer matter as they once did.

As Dr. Robert Jeffress pointed out in 2019, most Southern Baptists are indifferent to what the SBC does. People no longer care about denominations. According to Dr. Jeffress, all religion is local.

He told Todd Starnes in 2019, “They don’t pay any attention to it. I think we are living in a post-denominational age, and I think whether it is Southern Baptist or any other mainline denominations, I don’t think people relate any more to large masses of ecclesiastical bureaucracies. I think it is kind of like Tip O’Neil said one time, ‘All politics are local,’ and I think that is true about the church as well. I know our members are concerned about First Baptist Church Dallas and what we are doing to change the world for the better by introducing people to faith in Christ and I don’t know anybody under the age of 70 who cares about what is happening in the denomination.”

If this is indeed the case, conservatives should expect it harder to mobilize turnout at future Southern Baptist Conventions. Trends combined with the next convention sites favor establishment over grassroots conservative candidates.

Also, Critical Race Theory as both a national and internal issue may not have the motivating benefit in two years as it has today. If the perils of racial identity politics could not summon the SBC pastors to do their duty, what can?

I have a few ideas as to what must be done to achieve those goals. However, the question conservatives must ask themselves—is it worth it?

Certainly, the Woke and their Democratic Party enablers desire the SBC for its political value. They know how it can be used to suppress the turnout of conservative evangelical voters. In other words, the Woke takeover of the SBC was and is a net win for the Democrat Party and harms the Republican Party.

This is important. However, is it as important as it was in 1980? 1990? 2000? Or, even, 2020?

It might be time for conservatives to remember the caution of Bismarck, “Woe to the leader whose arguments at the end of a war are not as plausible as they were at the beginning.”

Or, Cardinal Richelieu’s dictum that methods must correspond to goals.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but will the expense of retaking the Southern Baptist Convention from Woke radicals be worth it?

More reflections and lots of commentary to come on the Battle of Nashville.